A First-Round Mock for the 2023 MLB Draft

Rob Manfred at the podium; CC by License 2.0

The MLB Draft is now less than a month away and teams are frantically trying to piece together a draft strategy and play out potential scenarios. A few weeks ago, I wrote a mock draft and analyzed the top 15 prospects. Today, I’m going to go through the entirety of the first round, the prospect promotion incentive round, as well as competitive balance round A. Because 39 picks are way too many to analyze in an article, there won’t be any write-ups. However, if you’re looking for more information on some of the early picks, make sure to check out my last article. Note that this is a prediction of what I think will happen and not reflective of my analysis of these players.

1.1 PIT- Dylan Crews, OF, LSU

1.2 WSH- Paul Skenes, RHP, LSU

1.3 DET- Wyatt Langford, OF, Florida

1.4 TEX- Max Clark, OF, HS (IN)

1.5 MIN- Walker Jenkins, OF, HS (NC)

1.6 OAK- Kyle Teel, C, Virginia

1.7 CIN- Rhett Lowder, RHP, Wake Forest

1.8 KCR- Jacob Wilson, INF, GCU

1.9 COL- Enrique Bradfield Jr, OF, Vanderbilt

1.10 MIA- Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee

1.11 LAA- Hurston Waldrep, RHP, Florida

1.12 ARI- Colin Houck, INF, HS (GA)

1.13 CHC- Arjun Nimmala, INF, HS (FL)

1.14 BOS- Blake Mitchell, C, HS (TX)

1.15 CWS- Aidan Miller, 3B, HS (FL)

1.16 SFG- Tommy Troy, INF, Stanford

1.17 BAL- Bryce Eldridge, 1B/RHP, HS (VA)

1.18 MIL- Jacob Gonzalez, INF, Mississippi

1.19 TBR- Matt Shaw, INF, Maryland

1.20 TOR- Noble Meyer, RHP, HS (OR)

1.21 STL- Brayden Taylor, INF, TCU

1.22 SEA- Colt Emerson, INF, HS (OH)

1.23 CLE- Kevin McGonigle, INF, HS (PA)

1.24 ATL- Walker Martin, INF, HS (CO)

1.25 SDP- Dillon Head. OF, HS (IL)

1.26 NYY- Sammy Stafura, INF, HS (NY)

1.27 PHI- Thomas White, LHP, HS (MA)

1.28 HOU- Nolan Schanuel, 1B, FAU

PPI. 29 SEA- Charlee Soto, RHP, HS (FL)

CBA. 30 SEA- Yohandy Morales, 3B/1B, Miami

CBA. 31 TBR- Chase Davis, OF, Arizona

CBA. 32 NYM- Jake Gelof, 3B, Virginia

CBA. 33 MIL- George Lombard Jr, INF, HS (FL)

CBA. 34 MIN- Jack Hurley, OF, Virginia

CBA. 35 MIA- Brock Wilken, 3B, Wake Forest

CBA. 36 LAD- Travis Sykora, RHP, HS (TX)

CBA. 37 DET- Roch Cholowsky, INF, HS (AZ)

CBA. 38 CIN- Colton Ledbetter, OF, Mississippi St.

CBA. 39 OAK- Jonny Farmelo, OF, HS (VA)

We’re still a month out, and it’s important to take every mock draft you see with a grain of salt. There are plenty of storylines starting to build and some picks that seem quite likely to happen. Anyone who’s followed the draft in years past knows that there’s always at least one big surprise, usually more, on draft night. I tried my best to combine what I’ve heard from industry sources with what others have predicted to create what I think is most likely to happen. Make sure to stay tuned for my third and final mock draft in the near future.